Writing in the New Statesman, John Pilger’s second dispatch from
Australia, his homeland, describes how the neo-conservative government
of John Howard has set out to change the basic culture of Australian
society.
Good ol’ Bill, the liberal hero
In his latest column for the New Statesman, John Pilger looks
forward to the arrival of Bill Clinton in London where an “audience”
with him will cost up to £799 a head. In examining Clinton’s liberal
credentials and comparing them to George W. Bush’s record, Pilger
illuminates what Hillary Clinton might offer America and the world as
the first female president.
The Kennedy myth rises again
In his latest column for the New Statesman, John Pilger recalls the
night Robert Kennedy was shot in his presence and the myths that
followed his untimely death. Having elevated Kennedy to be one of his
heroes, Prime Minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown describes him as the
pinnacle of “morality” – when this myth really tells us about Brown
himself and his political twin, Tony Blair.
Closing the gap between torturer and victim
In his latest column for the New Statesman, John Pilger reports on
new revelations that torturers in America’s ‘war on terror’ were
directed personally by the US secretary of defence. He argues that the
historical antedote to such barbarity is the new exuberant democracy
movement in Latin America.
The danse macabre of US-style democracy
John Pilger looks back on the US presidential campaigns he has reported and draws parallels with the current ‘ritual danse macabre’ that covers for democracy and the veiled propaganda that accompanies it.
From Kennedy to Obama: Liberalism’s last fling
John Pilger refers back to his travels with Robert Kennedy to describe the false hopes offered by those, like Barack Obama, who exploit the appeal of liberalism then present a very different reality.
In the great tradition, Obama is a hawk
John Pilger reaches back into the history of the Democratic Party and describes the tradition of war-making and expansionism that Barack Obama has now left little doubt he will honour.
Obama, the prince of bait-and-switch
John Pilger describes the devaluing of civilian casualties in colonial wars, and the anointing of Barack Obama, as he tours the battlefields, sounding more and more like George W. Bush.
Beware of the Obama hype. What ‘change’ in America really means
John Pilger writes that the lauding of Barack Obama has a history and that ‘historical moments’ ought to be less about their symbolism and accompanying histrionics than what they really mean. The question is: what is Obama’s true relation to unchanging American myths about the imposition of its notorious power?
Beware of Obama’s Groundhog Day
John Pilger reckons ‘Groundhog Day’, the black comedy about time repeating itself, might be a parable for the Age of Obama – as the president-elect’s major appointments turn out to be almost totally retro, without a single figure representing those who voted for him.
